1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



519 



swer the purpose very well. They may be found 

 at the agricultural warehouses. 



8. Do you still think "Dorkings" the most pro- 

 fitable breed for marketing ? Gray or Avhite ? 

 Sept. 30, 1862. A New Subsckibeb. 



Our opinion on this point should not be urged, 

 because we have not bred other varieties suffi- 

 ciently to know their merits. 



CRANBEERY CULTURE. 



I would like to make a few inquiries in regard 

 to the cranberry culture. 



1. What time of the year should the plants be 

 set out ? 



2. Which kind is the best ? 



3. Where could they be obtained, and at what 

 price ? 



4. How long after they are set out before the 

 plants will bear ? 



5. How near should the plants be set out ? 

 New Hampshire, Oct. 6, 1862. "Farmer." 



Rejurks. — 1. Set the plants in April. 



2. There is but little difference in the varieties, 

 — the Bell, Bugle and Cherry. 



3. They can be obtained from hundreds of 

 meadows, scattered all over the eastern portions 

 of this State and New Hampshire. 



4. The plants will bear quite moderately the 

 second year after they are set ; the third year we 

 have taken a bushel of fine berries from a square 

 rod of land. 



5. Set the plants as near as you can afford to, 

 — so that they will touch each other, if you please. 

 If set one foot apart each way, they will cover the 

 ground in three years, if they succeed well. 



POTATO DIGGING. 



I like the column of "Extracts and Replies," 

 in the Farmer, for its valuable hints to learners 

 in the art agricultural. I have, in prospect, a long 

 siege at potato digging. They grow in straight 

 di'ills, in sandy loam. 



Query. — Cannot potatoes, growing in straight 

 rows, be dug to better advantage by first using a 

 plow ? Would not even a common plow, facili- 

 tate the process, if carefully used along one or 

 both sides of the rows ? 



Granting there would be some waste of pota- 

 toes, need it equal the extra time and labor re- 

 quired in using the hoe or digger alone ? 



Framingham, Oct. 4, 1862. SUBSCRIBER. 



Remarks. — A plow is sometimes used with ad- 

 vantage. The most effective implement we have 

 ever seen used is a long handled spade, especially 

 if in the hands of an Irishman who has practiced 

 with it in that direction. A prong hoe injures too 

 many of the potatoes, and is very slow, compared 

 with the spade. Try the spade. 



STATE BOUNTY TO AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



I am glad that the topic which I suggested in a 

 late paper has drawn out some sensible remarks 



as to the continuance of our annual shows. It 

 has really seemed to me, for a considerable time, 

 that improvement might be made in the mode of 

 appropriating the moneys received by our agricul- 

 tural societies from the State, if these bounties 

 are to be longer continued ; of which I have more 

 than once heard dou])ts expressed, as the State 

 has so much need of money for other purposes ; 

 and as matters now go on, is likely to have in- 

 creasing need. I know not how it may be in oth- 

 er counties, but in my own, I am fully satisfied, 

 we could get along well enough, without the boun- 

 ty from the State. I make the suggestion in the 

 hope of drawing out instructions from wiser heads 

 of better experience. Essex. 



October, 1862. _ 



PLUM GROWING. 



I have several times noticed in your paper allu- 

 sions to Mr. H. Vandine's great success in plum 

 growing, and desire a little information upon the 

 mattei". Cannot you persuade him to tell us, 

 readers of the Farmer, how he manages to grow 

 them "in spite of curculio and black knots ;" also, 

 which kinds are most free from curculio ? 



Worcester Co., Sept., 1862. Tyro. 



Rejl\rks. — We trust friend Vandine will 

 oblige "Tyro," and a great many others, by giving 

 them some of his experiences and opinions on the 

 raising of plums. 



BREAD-MAKING MACHINE. 



I saw an account of a bread-making machine 

 for family use, described in a communication in 

 your paper. I would like to know the address of 

 the proprietor. s. P. M. 



Cape Elizabeth, Sept. 26, 1862. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



OBSEBVATION AND EXPERIENCE. 



When I was a boy of fifteen years of age, my 

 father gave me the use of a small piece of land 

 to plant. The soil was a deep loam, and rather 

 moist. A crop of potatoes was harvested from it 

 the year before, plowed and manured in the fall ; 

 the manure was dropped in heaps, to be applied 

 the next spring. He plowed the ground, and as 

 it was the custom among farmers in those days to 

 plant on the furrow, he thought nothing about 

 hari'owing it for me. I had observed that it was 

 difficult to plant on the furrow and make straight 

 rows, and I thought it would cause more labor to . 

 dress it. I had taken notice that when the sea- 

 son was a dry one, the soil dried more. I har- 

 rowed it smooth and planted it with corn, three 

 and one-half feet between the rows, and three feet 

 between hills. It came up well and quick ; the 

 soil being moist, I thought I would not cover it 

 deep, but took pains to press the soil with my 

 hoe, and was careful to keep it free from weeds. 

 I had observed that where the weeds were left to 

 grow until they had attained a large growth it i"e- 

 quired more labor to dress the soil, and that the 

 earth was dryer and more barren. The year be- 

 fore, my father planted a piece of land with pota- 

 toes ; it was wet, and could not be planted very 

 ' early ; before they were large enough to hoe it 



